Vladimir Putin is right when he says that Moscow is not planting its point of view on African leaders who choose to cooperate with Russia, Uwem-edimo Sampson, Current Chairman of the Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NDO), Russian chapter, told Sputnik Africa.
The president said in a new interview that Russia is simply friends with African countries and does not incite African countries and does not set them against France.
"I fully agree with the Russian president, that Russia is not enforcing its own opinion on the African leaders that have decided to work with Russia," Sampson noted.
He added that African countries are very rich in natural resources, and leaders, including the military that took power in coups in some Sahelian countries, are looking for better ways to turn resources into national wealth.
As an example, Sampson noted that African countries need electricity and transportation infrastructure to develop industrialization, so they are signing agreements with Russia to build power plants.
" [...] so when they [African countries] have another country or companies from another country, give them some proposals that are better than the one that they had from their colonial masters," the chairman explained.
In this sense, he advised the French government to reflect on what it has done wrong in its African policy, which has led the continent's nations to seek new partners instead of old ones.
"For the French not realizing the realities on the ground, it's just a matter of time, because we are on an irreversible trend. The French will still have to realize that they have to do something different," Sampson stressed.
Asked about the advantages of African countries cooperating with Russia instead of former colonizers, the Nigerian diaspora leader said that it is an opportunity to increase the value to the continent's resources by building the necessary infrastructure.
He underlined that French and other companies in Africa were mining and exporting minerals without adding value to the continent.
"So the train is moving forward, and the train is moving. I think that's a good thing for Africa to have options of partners. I think it's a good thing for both Russia and the African countries," Sampson concluded.
Putin said in the interview that many countries where France has historically been a metropolis don't really want to deal with Paris, although there are other African countries that are comfortable with the French presence.
He went on to say that Russia did not thrust itself into Africa and did not squeeze France out of there; African leaders themselves wanted to work with Moscow.